1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to apparatus for the bracing and restraint of cargo loads that are carried in carriers such as freight containers, highway trucks and trailers, railroad cars, ships, aircraft and space vehicles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Prior forms of load restraint of cargo employ load separators which are fastened to the sides of the cargo container, with the necessity of incorporating considerable hand-fitted lumber or other dunnage material between the cargo loads and the load separators. Such systems provide some longitudinal cargo restraint but little lateral restraint. Straps fastened to the load separators and over the cargo load may furnish additional limited vertical load restraint, but the restraint furnished by such systems is limited by the size and shape of the load separators, and by the amount of restraint load which may be absorbed from the load separators into the secondary structure such as the walls and sides of the cargo carrier.
Other load restraint mechanisms feature fittings which are bolted into fixed positions in the carrier floor or walls, or are tied by chains about the side rails of the carrier. Such devices cannot directly restrain cargo shifting loads occurring in all three axes of motion, nor can they be directly adjusted to fit against the cargo load and to transport the cargo restraint forces into the floor supporting structure of the cargo container.